The program had a tight schedule. The itinerary took him from Düsseldorf via Amsterdam to Boston. Once there, he found out that his suitcase hadn’t travelled with him – so he went to the local hotel to stock up on essentials. The next destination the very next day was Toronto. Unfortunately, the suitcase hadn’t made it there either.
The next day he set off for Chicago. By now, he’d become accustomed to arriving there the day before his suitcase. He kindly advised the airline to send the suitcase straight back home to Ennigerloh. But there was method to the madness in luggage handling. A new tag was affixed to the suitcase at each location. How could it be otherwise? No prizes for guessing: the suitcase didn’t arrive on time at the last destination, Pittsburgh. In the end, Burkhard Reploh made his way home again. He returned to Düsseldorf via Amsterdam. He’d already gotten used to the fact that his suitcase didn’t arrive with him.
Two days later, a cab pulled up at home. The cab driver brought the well-traveled suitcase. Burkhard Reploh was delighted to have his suitcase back. His wife was over the moon too. She didn’t have to do any washing. All the clothes were still unworn in the suitcase.
